Turn-table construction.



L. H. SHOEMAKER, TURN TABLE CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10. 1911.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET I. Q

WITNESSES L. H. SHOEMAKER.

TURN TABLE CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION EILED AUG. 10. 191i.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES LOUIS H. SHOEMAKER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

i TURN-TABLE CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 13, 191 7.

Application filed August 10, 1917. Serial No. 185,475.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS H. SHOE-MAKER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Turn-Table Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to turntables used in rotating or revolving a locomotive or other rolling stock of railways positioned thereon to turn it end for end, and more particularly relates to the construction and arrangement of the turntable end trucks on the turntable girders and to the driving mechanism used in actuating the turntable One object of the lnventlon Is to provide a turntable having novel means whereby the end trucks are secured on or connected to the longitudinal girders of the turntable.

Another object of the invention is to provide a turntable having improved means whereby the turntable is rotatably supported. the power required in turning the turntable is lessened, difficulties in starting and stopping the revolving turntable are avoided and overcome, and the cost of operation of the turntable thereby reduced.

A still further object of the invention consists in the provision of a turntable having the novel constructions, arrangements and combinations of parts shown in the drawings, to be more fully described hereinafter, and to be specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

eferring now to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional plan. showing a turntable constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention, the track rails and ties used on the turntable girders being omitted for the sake of clearness.

' ing taken on the Fig. 2 is a longitudinal side elevation,

partly in section and partly broken away, of the turntable shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the turntable shown in Figs. 1 and 2. the s ction beline IIIIII of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan showing diagrammatically the relative arrangement of the driving gears by which the angular driving shafts of my improved apparatus are operatively connected to the driven or traction wheelsof the turntable.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the turntable is shown operatively mounted and i of the turntable are balanced on air axially central pivot or center bearing 5 so as to rock slightly both lengthwise and tral'isversely. The curved rail in the pit adjacent to its vertical side wall 6 forms a circular track 7 on which the pairs of wheels 8, 8, and 9, 9. on the pairs of turntable end trucks 10, 10 and 11. 11 travel in supporting the ends of the main or longitudinal girders 3 and at, when the turntable is loaded.

The two main or longitudinal girders 3 and 4- are connected at their ends by transverse girders l2 and, at necessary intervals in the length thereof. by transverse girders 13, so as to rigidly fasten the main girders in spaced relation. The spaces between the transverse girders are bridged by pairs of longitudinal beams 14, 14 which are fastened at their ends to the transverse girders 12, 13 (see Fig. 1).

The turntable shown is of the through type and has the top flanges of the beams 14 in a somewhat lower horizontal plane than that of the transverse girders 12, 1.3, and the plane of the top surface of the girders 12, 13 is considerably below that of the top cover plates on the main girders 3 and 4, this enabling the over-all height of the turntable to be materially lessened. Ties 15. for the rails 16, 16 forming the track on the turntable, are supported directly upon the beams 14 and the track rails 16 are adapted to connect with the ends of rails 17, 17 forming tracks which terminate at the side wall 6 of the pit 2 and on which the rolling stock moves when being transferred to and from the turntable.

Each end of the main or longitudinal girders 3 and 4. has a rectangular opening 18 in the web plate thereof, and extending through each of the openings 18 is a pair of beams forming the frames of the-trucks 10 and 11.

The beams forming each truck frame are fastened together at their ends by plates 19 and angles 20 to maintain the beams in spaced relation. The beams forming the two truck frames 10,10 for the ends of the main girder 3 have bearings 21, 21 on the lower flanges thereof in which axles 22 for the pairs of truck wheels 8, 8, on the trucks 10, 10 are rotatably mounted. The wheels 8, 8, are keyed or otherwise secured to the axles 22 so as to rotate therewith, and the wheels are arranged to engage with and travel on 2. The beams formingtlie truck frames 11, 11 for the ends of the main girder f have bearings 23, 23 on the bottom flanges thereof, in which axles 2% for the wheels 9, 9, of the 'trucks 11 arerotatably mounted, the wheels being keyed or otherwise fastened to the axles to rotate therewith. The wheels 9, 9; on the ends of the girders 4 are idlers, not being positively rotated, while each of the pairs of wheels'8, 8, on the trucks 10, 10 for the main girder 3 are positively driven, this construction and arrangement being provided for a purpose described hereinafter.

The beams forming the truelrframes 10 and 11 are secured in the rectangular openings 18 in the ends of the girders 3 and 4: so as to be movable vertically relative to the turntable girders, as will. be readily seen in Figs. 2 and 3. 7

The struts or diagonal braces 25 and 26 which are used to connect the ends of the truck frames 10 and 11 to the main girders 3 and prevent any relative horizontal movement between the truck frames and main girders while permitting the limited amount of vertical movement therebetween that is necessary or at least desirable in a turntable made in accordance with this invention.

Each truck frame or truck 10, 10 and 11, 11 is provided with a spring support 27 which is shown formed of two channel beams placed back to back, the flanges of these c annel. beams being fastened to the webs of the beams forming the truck frames. Obviously, however, these supports may be otherwise made, when desired.

Positioned in each of the rectangular openings 18 in the ends of the girders 3 and 4 is a top follower plate or spring follower 28 and bottom follower 29 or 29, the openings 18 having stifi'ening angles 30, 31 to" provide bearing surfaces for the followers or hearing plates 28, 29, 29*, and to which the followers are fastened. A vertical pin 32 extends through registering holes in the followers and intermediate spring support 27 in each of the openings 18 to fasten the trucks in the openings.

A'heavy spring 33 is inserted between the spring supports 27 and 28 and a lighter spring at is positioned between the springsupports 27 and bottom followers 29 onthe trucks 10, 10 for the longitudinal girder 3. In positioning the springs 33 and 3%, the top or heavy spring 33 is put into place under a considerable initial compression and the lower spring under little or no compression. By this arrangement of the springs, the 10 are always forced downwardly within the openings 18 in the girder 3 by the spring 33 and the wheels 8, 8 on these trucks,

which are the positively driven or traction wheels of the turntable, are maintained in tractive engagement with the upper surface Lea ers of the rail forming the circular track 7 at all times, or when the turntable is empty as well as when a locomotive is positioned thereon.

The spring 35 in each of the openings 18 of the other main girder 4r is put into place without any initial compression and this spring normally holds the beams forming the truck frames 11 with their bottom flanges in direct contact with the angles 31 at the marginal edge defining the bottom of the openings 18. It will be noted that there is no spring between the support 27 and bottom of the openings 18 in the girder a. The springs 35, 35, and also the springs 33, 33 form a cushion which takes the shock when the ends of the main girders 3 and i are rocked or moved vertically downward, as when a locomotive is passing on or off the turntable.

By referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that when the turntable is empty the lower flanges of the beams forming the trucks 11, 11 rest upon the upper surface of the flanges 31 defining the lower edge of the rectangular openings 18 in the ends of the longitudinal girder 1, and when in such position that the wheels 9, 9 of the trucks 11, 11 are just clear of the upper surface of the circular track rail 7. It will also be seen that the bottom flanges of the beams forming the trucks 10, 10, do not rest upon the angles 31 defining the lower edge of the rectangular openings in the ends of the girder 3 and that the springs 34: maintain the wheels 8, 8 on the trucks 10, 10 at all times in tractivc engagement with the track rail 7. This result is obtained in the construction shown by making the vertical distance from the upper surface of the track rail 7 to the upper face of the angles 31 on the girder 3 defining the lower edge of the openings 18 somewhat less than the distance from the rail 7 to the upper surface of the angles 31v on the girder 4.

The main girders 3 and 4 are supported on the center bearing 5 so as to be balanced, and, while universal y movable on this center bearing, these girders will hold the two truck frames 11 for the girder 4 so that the wheels 9; 9 on these trucks will just clear the top of the track rail wheh the turntable is empty. The upper spring 33 for the truck frames 10 on the main girder 3 being put into place under considerable compression forces the frames 10 downwardly so as to always maintain the wheels 8 in tractive engagement with the circular track rail 7 even when the turntable is empty,the weight of the main girders ptoviding a purchase for the spring 33 on the girder 3, and also for the spring 35 on the girder 4.

The overhanging ends of the axles 22 for the trucir wheels 8 each has a bevel gear 36 thereon, which meshes with a bevel pirnc-n 37 on one end of the angularly extending driving shafts 38 (see Fig. l). The shafts 38 are secured at one end in bearings 39 which are pivotally secured on the webs of one beam of the truck frames 10. The other end of each angular shaft 38 is connected by a universal jointor coupling 40 to one end of a driving shaft ll rotatably secured in bearings 42, 43 on the girder 13 of the turntable. The shafts 41 of which there are two, extend lengthwise parallel with the main girders and the adjoining ends thereof are provided with bevel gears 44 which mesh with a bevel pinion 45 on one end of the short countershaft or cross shaft 46. Theshaft 46 is mounted in a bearing 47 on the girder 3 and is connected by a coupling 48 to one end'of the countershaft 49 of the driving motor 50. The countershaft 49 isconnected by reducing gears 51, 52 to the armature shaft 53 of the motor, and the motor is supported upon a bracket 5% which extends outwardly from and is fastened to the Web of the main girder 3.

The operation of my improved turntable will be readily understood. Vhen the turntable is empty it will be supported by the center bearing 5 and the truck frames 11, 11 on the ends of the girder at will be held in such position that the two truck wheels 9, 9, will be just clear of the circular track rail 7, the springs 35. forcing the trucks 11 downwardly into this position. The top springs 33 connecting the truck frames 10, 10 to the main girder 3 cause the truck wheels 8, 8 on these truck frames to move downwardly so as to always be in tractive engagement with the track rail 7.

The motor 50 being started, the truck wheels 8, 8 on the girder 3 will be positively rotated and rotation thereof will cause the empty turntable to rotate on its pivota when desired. As the truck wheels onthe girder at are not supporting any of the weight of the turntable when the turntable is empty, the power required, in such case, to rotate the empty turntable will be materially lessened and the cost of power for actuating the turntable is thereby reduced.

When a locomotive is moved onto the turntable it will depress the near end or end of the turntable first engaged thereby, the springs 33 and 35 on this end of the turntable cushioning the shock caused by the locomotive passing upon the turntable. Then the locomotive becomes centrally positioned thereon the turntable will be balanced and the load then will be distributed on the eight wheels of the trucks. The weight of the locomotive will increase the tractive force of the driving wheels 8, 8 on the girder 3 started, it will readily turn the turntable and locomotive supported thereon.

After the locomotive is removed from the so that when the motor is "the ends of the girders,

turntable, the turntable will resume a position, (that shown in the drawings) with the truck wheels 9, 9 on the girder 4 out of engagement with the circular track rails 7.

The advantages of my invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Modifications in the construction and arrangements of the parts of the apparatus may be made without departing from my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim l. A- turntable comprising, in combination, a pair of longitudinal girders, a center bearing therefor, a wheeled truck frame on each end of each girder, and means for securing the trucks on said; girders, said means being adapted to hold the wheels on the trucks of one girder in engagement with the track rail therefor and to hold the wheels on the trucks for the other girder out the turntable is empty.

2. A turntable comprising, in combination, a pair of longitudinal girders, a center bearing therefor, a wheeled truck frame on each end of each girder, and yielding means for securing the trucks on said girders, said means being adapted to hold the wheels on the trucks of one girder in engagement with the track rail therefor and to hold the wheels on the trucks for the other girder out of engagement with said track rail when the turntable is empty.

3. A turntable comprising, in combination, a pair of longitudinal girders, a center bearing therefor, a wheeled truck frame on each end of each girder, and springs forming yielding means for securing the trucks on said girders, said means being adapted to hold/the Wheels on the trucks of one tion,]ongitudinal girders having transverse openings in the webs thereof adjacent to the ends of the girders, truck frames extending through said openings and having track wheels thereon, a circular track for said wheels, a center bearing on which said longitudinal girders are pivotally supported, and means for securing said truck frames in position on said girders, said means being constructed and arranged to suspend the truck frames from the ends of one of said girders when the turntable is empty and the trucks on said girder being adapted to support the ends of the girder when the turntable is loaded.

v 5. A turntable comprising, in combination, longitudinal girders having transverse openings in the webs thereof adjacent to truck frames extending through said openings and having track ivheels thereon, a circular trac; for said wheels, a center bearing on which said longitudinal girders are pivotally supported and springs forming yielding means for securing said truck frames in position on said girders, said means being cons'ructed and arranged to suspend the truck frames "iron: the ends of one of said girders .vhen the turntable is empty and the trucks on said girder being adapted to support the ends of the girder when the turntable is loaded.

6. A turntable comprising, in combination, lo gitudinal girders having transverse openings in the Webs thereof adjacent to the ends of the girders, truck frames extending through said openings and having track Wheels thereon, acircular track for said Wheels, a center bearing on Which said lon- .40 gitudinal girders are pivotally supported and means for securing said truck frames in position on said girders, said means being constructed and arranged to suspend the truck frames from the ends of one of said girders and to yieldingly hold the truck frames of the other girder 1n engagement with the track for said Wheels When the turntable is empty and the trucks for said girders being adapted to support the ends of said girders when the turntable is loaded.

7. A turntable comprising, in combination, longitudinal girders having transverse Copies of this patent may be obtained for a nets openings in the Webs th reoi' adjacent to the ends of the girders, truclr frames extending through said openings and having track Wheels thereon, a circular track for Wheels, a center bearing on Which said longitudinal girders are pivotally supported and springs forming yielding means for securing said truck frames in position on said girders, said means being constructed and arranged to suspend the truck frames from the ends of one of said girders and to yieldingly hold the truck frames of the other girder inengagement with the track for said wheels when the turntable is empty and the trucks for said girders being adapted to support the ends of said girders when the turntable is loaded.

8, A turntable comprising main girders, a center bearing therefor, wheeled trucks at the ends of said girders, means connecting the trucks to the main girders, arranged to permit of limited, relative, vertical mo. ment and prevent relative horizontal movementtherebetween, spur gears on the wheel axles of at least one truck, a driving shaft having a spur pinion meshing with said spur gears and a motor for driving said shaft.

In testimony whereof I lave hereunto set my hand.

LOUES H. SHOEMAKER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner oi Eetents,

Washington, D. G. 

